Welcome to Temptation (17 page)

Zane leaned closer to her. "Sophie wants you to go with her so she can tell you what a bad man I am." Georgiawidened her eyes and giggled. "I
love
bad men."

Page 84

"Georgia," Frank said quietly. "You're drunk."

Georgialeered at him. "Oh, you're a real rocket scientist tonight."

"I think I'll go home," Rachel said, and stood up.

"Wait." Sophie nodded to the bar where Rob was leaning close to Clea, clearly not leaving soon. "Rob brought you, didn't he? How are you getting home?"

"I can walk," Rachel said, and Sophie stood up and said, "No, you can't. I'll get the keys from Amy."

"I'll drive her," Phin said from behind them. "You want a ride home, too?" Sophie turned and caught her breath. "Oh. Yes. Sure. If it's on your way."
Of course it's on his way,
jeez, Sophie.

"I've had about all the Tavern I can stand for one night," Phin said. "We can take Rachel home and then go back and fix your kitchen."

"Sounds good." Sophie looked across the room at Amy, who waved her on and turned back to smile at Wes. Clea and Rob were practically in each other's laps.Georgiawas whispering something in Zane's ear. Frank looked confused and sad.

"Get me out of here," Sophie said, and Phin said, "Thought so," and gave her a gentle push toward the door.

*

Half an hour later, Sophie leaned on the kitchen sink with a glass of wine and tried to calm her pounding heart while Phin worked on the plumbing. With his head under the sink, she could scope out his body without having to face the distance in his eyes, and, having reacquainted herself with how very nicely he was put together, she felt a lot better about having fallen the night before, not to mention her plans to fall again tonight. Clearly this was quality stuff. If she could just get him to shut up, he'd be perfect.

"That's it," he said, pulling his head out from under the sink. "Turn on the water." She walked over to the sink and turned on the tap. "Very fast," she said as the water swirled down the drain. "Nice job, Mayor."

"Yeah, well, we do it all." He got to his feet. "Now, I'll have some of that wine." She poured him a glass while he washed his hands, and then sat at the table with him in uncomfortable silence while he took his first sip. "Interesting," he said, looking at the glass. "Did you make this in the basement?"

"We bought it at the grocery," Sophie said.

"The grocery here in Temptation?" Phin said, appalled.

"It's the only one," Sophie said. "Of course, the grocery here."
Page 85

He started to laugh. "What, you couldn't afford the Ripple?"

"Fine, don't drink it." Sophie reached for his glass, but Phin held on to it.

"I'm sure it'll be fine once I get used to it." He took another sip and shuddered. "Never mind," he said, and passed it over to her. "So tell me about the movie."

"No." Sophie looked at him with naked exasperation. "That's all you ever ask about, and I've already told you everything. What is it with you?"

Phin shrugged. "Okay, tell me about your life. How did the therapist take the news last night?" Sophie raised her eyebrows. "You know he's a therapist?"

"This is Temptation," Phin said. "Stay long enough, I'll know everything about you. Of course, since you're leaving tomorrow, you'll get to keep most of your secrets."

"We're not leaving tomorrow," Sophie said. "We're going to shoot some extra footage for the movie, so we're staying over until next Sunday."

"Really." Phin's face was as impassive as ever. "And how did the therapist take that?"

"I didn't tell him." Sophie sipped her wine and gathered her courage. "I told him I wanted to fuck you, and he told me I was trying to shock him with language." There, that was the ticket, just say it really fast, like swallowing medicine or pulling off a Band-Aid.

Phin frowned his disbelief. "You told him you wanted to fuck him, and he yelled at you for talking dirty?" He shook his head. "This guy is dead below the waist."

"No." Sophie picked up his glass and moved to the sink to dump it. Then she swallowed and said carefully, "I told him I wanted to fuck
you
, and he said—" She stopped because this time he'd gotten it.

"That wasn't a pass," she said, backing up a step. "I was merely—"

"The hell it wasn't." Phin stood up, and Sophie thought,
Oh, jeez, it's working, now what do I do?

"Well, not really." She backed up again and bumped into the wall. "It was more..." He followed her to the wall and bent to look her in the eye. "Sophie."

"What?"

"That was a pass."

She shrugged. "Maybe, subconsciously, a small one."

"Sophie."

She shut her eyes. "Okay, it was a pass, but—"

He kissed her, and she didn't have to finish the sentence, which was a damn good thing because she had no idea where she'd been going with it. She kissed him back, clutching at his shirt, and he broke the kiss
Page 86

to say, "Don't wrinkle the cotton," and pried her fingers off. She thought,
Well, the hell with you
. Then he pulled her close again, and she pressed herself against all that lovely muscle and bone and thought,
As
long as he shuts up, this is going to be good
, and then his mouth was on hers again, and she stopped thinking at all.

Ten minutes later, when her dress was unbuttoned and so was his shirt, and she was dizzy and tight with the heat and even he looked a little mind-whacked, he said, "Where's your bedroom?"

"What?" Sophie blinked at him, coming back from all that good lust.

"Bed. Room," Phin said distinctly, sliding his hand inside her dress. "Or we can do this on the kitchen table, but I'm pretty sure I just heard somebody pull up outside. I don't care if Wes and Amy watch, but having Zane in the room would definitely put me off my stroke."

"Oh, no." Sophie stepped back, and he followed her, his hand tightening on her waist. "That would be bad with people..." She looked around vaguely.

"...here." She caught sight of the phone and said, "Oh,
damn
, I have to call Brandon ." Phin looked at her incredulously and took his hand out of her dress "Now?"

"I have to break up with him before I fool around with you," Sophie said. "That's only right."

"You're a little late." He gestured to her open dress. "The fooling-around is pretty much under way. Come here." He reached for her again, and she ducked away to grab the phone. "I don't believe this," he said, and sat down on the edge of the table, disheveled and gorgeous, looking at her as if she were demented, while she dialed and then waited for Brandon to pick up the phone.

" Brandon ?" she said when it finally clicked, but it was his machine again. "Listen, Brandon , I did not want to leave this message on your machine, but since you're avoiding me—" She looked back over her shoulder at Phin, who was shaking his head at the ceiling. "—I think we should break up. And see other people. So that's what I'm doing. Seeing other people."

Phin put his head in his hands.

"Of course, they're not sensitive, understanding people like you," Sophie said pointedly.

"You want sensitive and understanding, stick with the therapist," Phin said. "You want great, headbanging sex, get off the fucking phone and come with me."

"I have to go now," Sophie said breathlessly into the phone. "I'm sorry if this hurts you but I don't think it will. You always seemed sort of clinical anyway."

"Oh, yeah, that'll soften the blow," Phin said. "Remind me never to get involved with you."

"Um, have a nice life," Sophie said brightly, and hung up. She walked over and boosted herself onto the table next to him, willing herself to stay cool, and reached for her wineglass again. "So you're not getting involved?"

He took the glass away from her. "No. I'm just going to have cheap sex with you and then run like hell."
Page 87

"Chicken," she said.

He stood up and put her glass in the sink, and then he came back to stand in front of her, parting her knees with his body. He said, "You bet," and she lost her breath again. He kissed her, sliding his hand into her dress to cup her breast, and she thought,
A semi-complete
stranger is groping me,
and smiled against his mouth.

"What?" he said, and she gave in to the devil and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"It feels good," she said, and he said, "Well, that's why I do it," and kissed her again, running his hands down her back to lift her off the table.

"Where's the bedroom?" he said, and she said, "Second door on the left upstairs."

"Upstairs?" He put her back on the table. "Then you walk. And make it quick, before the therapist calls back."

She was going to argue, but she heard Amy and Wes on the porch, so she slid off the table and headed for the stairs and all that headbanging sex she'd been promised.

Twenty minutes later, she was suffocating on top of him in the heat of her unair-conditioned bedroom, the ancient box springs squeaking under them like a bad accordion, and her head was unbanged because the sex was lousy.

It wasn't Phin's fault. He was as thoroughly competent at the Phallic Variation as he'd been orally the night before.
So it must be me
, she thought, as he moved under her, doing absolutely nothing for her. She felt embarrassed by the whole situation. Zane had been right. She just wasn't the type for headbanging sex. She was too detached. She was too prissy and straight. She was doing this to write a sex scene for a movie she wasn't even sure she wanted to make. She was hot and sticky and she could feel her hair kinking in the heat even as Phin breathed under her, so she knew she looked awful. She was
unexciting
. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter, she was never going to get anywhere at this rate. She thought briefly about faking it, and then dumped the idea when she realized that Phin would probably see through it and make fun of her performance. That pretty much left her with no option except tapping him on the shoulder and telling him to play on though because she was out of the game.
Sorry
, she'd have to say.
I'm not even close
. Or she could let him figure it out on his own, except guys never did. They just—

"You're not even close, are you?" Phin said, breathless below her, and she refocused back on him.

"What?"

"Hi, I'm Phin Tucker, and I'm inside you. I know how these things slip your mind." He didn't sound annoyed, but she felt bad anyway.

"I'm sorry," she said, and he slid his hand down her back and rolled to one side so that they lay face-to-face on the damp sheets, the springs protesting under them.

"Don't apologize." He brushed back a curl that was stuck to her forehead. "Thinking about the therapist?" He moved against her to bring her closer, and her nerves kicked into gear.
Page 88

"Who?" she said, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

"Well, at least you forgot us both," Phin said. "That was very democratic of you." He used a corner of the sheet to wipe sweat off her forehead. "Remind me to get you an air conditioner before we do this again. I'm dying here."

She wanted to say,
What are you talking about, AGAIN? This is a disaster
, but it didn't seem polite.

"Maybe we should just call it a night," she said, and moved back from him, and he followed her to stay inside her, and that made her shiver under his hands.

"Maybe we should give it another shot," he said as she trembled. "That's at least one nerve you've still got working." He kissed her in the damp curve where her neck met her shoulder, and she took a ragged breath and moved against him again without thinking. "And that one always works. I noticed that last night."

"Last night was different," she said.

"Yeah, you came," Phin said, and she laughed in spite of herself.

"Not that. I'm distracted tonight. It's not your fault."

"Do me a favor." Phin slid his hand down her sweat-damp back again. "Don't be understanding. There's nothing worse for a guy's ego."

"Your ego is in fine shape," Sophie said crushingly. "Along with the rest of you. Really, this isn't going to work. Could we go watch TV now or something?"

"No." Phin kissed her in the curve of her neck again, and she shivered and said, "Stop that."

"See?" he said in her ear, which made her shiver, too. "Progress. Now tell me your fantasies."

"What?" She tried to squirm away and he rolled again, trapping her under him. He was heavy and sweaty which should have been a turn-off, but her body rocked against his, independent of her mind, and she closed her eyes as he slid deeper into her.

"I think it's time we got to know each other," Phin said, laughter in his voice. "What do you think about when you masturbate?"

"Okay, I'm out of here." Sophie tried to roll out from under him, but he pressed down on her with his hips, and she stayed just to feel him hard inside her.

"What do you think about, Sophie?" he whispered in her ear, and she said loudly, "I don't think about anything."

"You are such a lousy liar." He rolled again, this time so that she was on top, his body sliding slickly under hers, and Sophie felt herself flush.

"Bondage?" he said, his voice husky as he rocked against her, his hands on her hips, and she caught her breath and said, "You come near me with a rope, and I'm history."
Page 89

"Okay, later for that," he said. "Rape fantasy?"

"Tacky," she said, and he said, "Not if you do it right. You want to dominate?"

"Oh, yeah. Like you'd let me." She started to laugh, only to stop when she heard people in the kitchen downstairs. "Shhh."

"Why?" Phin stopped moving. "It's just Wes and Amy."

"Yeah." Sophie looked over her shoulder at the door.

"Did you lock it?" Phin said in her ear, and he sounded amused.

"I forgot." She tried to pull away from him, but he rolled and trapped her again, sliding deeper inside her and making her gasp. "Stop it," she said breathlessly. "I'm not even sure it's closed all the way. Let me go lock it and I'll come back."